“Veterans Day originated as “Armistice Day” on Nov. 11, 1919, the first anniversary of the end of World War I. Congress passed a resolution in 1926 for an annual observance, and Nov. 11 became a national holiday beginning in 1938. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed legislation in 1954 to change the name to Veterans Day as a way to honor those who served in all American wars. The day honors military veterans with parades and speeches across the nation. A national ceremony takes place at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.”

“One thing that I learned is that the young men who fought in our wars should never be forgotten…Another fact I learned…is that millions may serve but far fewer fight. So, in reality, for many who have served, war is a glory-and-gory myth that feeds on its own legends and publicity.…Another truth I learned is that civilians are combatants in war–embattled victims perpetually on a losing side….That brings us to the biggest deception: The need to be ready defend our freedom if we are to keep it. Those who say that freedom has a price are absolutely right, and wrong: International conflict today is beyond ideology. The only freedom American and Russian leaders offer their people today is the freedom to kill ourselves in the name of freedom. This is not freedom, but allegiance to a suicidal death culture….Today, we are servile to our masters, mistaking economic well-being for true freedom, which is the freedom to live hopefully and not to die needlessly.”

A good thing we could do for our veterans is to respect them and treat them well while they are still with us.

Another good thing we could do is to stop uncritically venerating everything military—especially since so few are willing to serve in our all-volunteer forces and we are not at heart sincere as a nation in saying we respect those who serve—and work towards a culture of peace and true respect for human life.

The soldiers you see in this video our are fellow human beings just as are the people they are engaging with in various ways in Afghanistan.

All people are complex and merit consideration as individuals and as who they are in the full context of our interdependent world.

Here is what my father—who died last year—wrote based on his combat experience in the Korean War—

“One thing that I learned is that the young men who fought in our wars should never be forgotten…Another fact I learned…is that millions may serve but far fewer fight. So, in reality, for many who have served, war is a glory-and-gory myth that feeds on its own legends and publicity. …Another truth I learned is that civilians are combatants in war–embattled victims perpetually on a losing side….That brings us to the biggest deception: The need to be ready defend our freedom if we are to keep it. Those who say that freedom has a price are absolutely right, and wrong: International conflict today is beyond ideology. The only freedom American and Russian leaders offer their people today is the freedom to kill ourselves in the name of freedom. This is not freedom, but allegiance to a suicidal death culture….Today, we are servile to our masters, mistaking economic well-being for true freedom, which is the freedom to live hopefully and not to die needlessly.”

I know our troops have to be fighting for more than our ongoing Presidential campaign where the two major party corporate-owned liars are discussing everything but the core issues of the disappearance of jobs in our changing economy and the realities of climate change.

Meaning is very often hard to find. There is no shame in looking for relief in a silly pop song. I don’t have a neat thought to round out this post. I just know that as my father said we are very much living in a “death culture” and that we really don’t care who we harm so long as nothing much is asked of most of us and even as others fight for us far from home.

I guess we would not want to think about death or anything that would detract from shopping.

My late father was a combat veteran of the Korean War. Here is a small portion of what he wrote a number of years ago about war—

“One thing that I learned is that the young men who fought in our wars should never be forgotten…Another fact I learned…is that millions may serve but far fewer fight. So, in reality, for many who have served, war is a glory-and-gory myth that feeds on its own legends and publicity. …Another truth I learned is that civilians are combatants in war–embattled victims perpetually on a losing side….That brings us to the biggest deception: The need to be ready defend our freedom if we are to keep it. Those who say that freedom has a price are absolutely right, and wrong: International conflict today is beyond ideology. The only freedom American and Russian leaders offer their people today is the freedom to kill ourselves in the name of freedom. This is not freedom, but allegiance to a suicidal death culture….Today, we are servile to our masters, mistaking economic well-being for true freedom, which is the freedom to live hopefully and not to die needlessly.”

We can honor those who have died in our wars without buying into our violent culture that often values war over peace, and without forgetting that we sent our soldiers to a war in Iraq that was based on lies.

If there are events in the Houston area I am missing, please leave a comment and I will add that event to this list.

Here is the Houston VA observance—

A special Memorial Day Service will be held on Monday, May 28, 2012 at 9:30 a.m. at the Houston VA National Cemetery, located at 10410 Veterans Memorial Drive.

This year, the Department of Veterans Affairs is pleased to announce that retired Navy Reserve Captain Richard L. Halferty will give the Memorial Day address. Halferty serves as the Chief Operating Officer for H.M.S. Telecom LLC., and has extensive experience in logistics, contingency and emergency planning. Halferty served in the United States Navy Reserve for over 38 years retiring as a Captain in 1986. He currently serves as Chairman, Korean War Veterans, Lone Star Chapter. Among his military awards are the Navy Commendation Medal, China Service Medal, National Defense Medal, Armed Forces Reserve and the United Nations Medal. Continue reading →

“One thing that I learned is that the young men who fought in our wars should never be forgotten…Another fact I learned…is that millions may serve but far fewer fight. So, in reality, for many who have served, war is a glory-and-gory myth that feeds on its own legends and publicity. …Another truth I learned is that civilians are combatants in war–embattled victims perpetually on a losing side….That brings us to the biggest deception: The need to be ready defend our freedom if we are to keep it. Those who say that freedom has a price are absolutely right, and wrong: International conflict today is beyond ideology. The only freedom American and Russian leaders offer their freedom today is the freedom to kill ourselves in the name of freedom. This is not freedom, but allegiance to a suicidal death culture….Today, we are servile to our masters, mistaking economic well-being for true freedom, which is the freedom to live hopefully and not to die needlessly.”

George Bush offered Americans the freedom to die in Iraq. That was all he offered. He did not offer the truth or any sense of honor, decency, or purpose.

Does America have the national character to treat our returning veterans with respect?

“A secret Pentagon study has found that as many as 80 percent of the marines who have been killed in Iraq from wounds to the upper body could have survived if they had had extra body armor. Such armor has been available since 2003, but until recently the Pentagon has largely declined to supply it to troops despite calls from the field for additional protection, according to military officials.”

The yellow ribbons here at home have for the most part long been off the SUVS, giant pick-ups and cars.

Maybe many of these folks are now concerned that socialists have taken over our government. Maybe they think that the fad of supporting our troops is not as fun when it is a Democrat giving the orders from the White House.

Our friends on the left are quiet now that we have a Democratic President. Don’t you think the left would be all over George W. Bush or John McCain if one of these men were President as the fighting in Afghanistan goes on and on?

Remember when the liberal advocacy group Move On asked if General David Petraeus should be called “General Betray Us?”

Move On was asking, in essence, if General Petraeus was disloyal in some fashion. Yet today when you go to the Move On homepage there is no mention of our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as issues the group is focusing on at the moment. There is no discussion of President Obama’s recent promotion of General Petraeus to lead both our ongoing wars.

Was Move On wrong about General Petraeus back then, or they holding back now because Barack Obama is President?

Maybe it was all an act to start with on all sides of the debate.

In any case, our troops are still fighting and dying in Afghanistan while we go about our daily affairs.

Memorial Day originated in 1868, when Union General John A. Logan designated a day in which the graves of Civil War soldiers would be decorated. Known as Decoration Day, the holiday was changed to Memorial Day within twenty years, becoming a holiday dedicated to the memory of all war dead. It became a federal holiday in 1971, and is now observed on the last Monday in May.

(This representation of a disagreement between Tecumseh and William Henry Harrison is a reminder that sometimes U.S. troops were called upon to do harm to the native population. Tecumseh died in the War of 1812.)

War crimes take place in all wars and are committed by all sides. It is not a contradiction to acknowledge this fact and still respect the great majority who served honorably. At the same time, it is disrespectful to the concepts of democracy and human rights to ignore these facts.

I called my father from the Korean War Memorial and asked him about the historical accuracy of how the troops were sculpted. He said based on my descriptions, it was an accurate portrayal. ( Photo below)

Without people willing to die to protect the freedom of others, I would not be able to express my views in this blog post. Without such people, none of us would be able to enjoy the day-to-day freedoms we often take for granted.

There will be a protest against President Obama’s policies in Afghanistan and Iraq next week in College Station, Texas.

The protest is called Where’s The Change. It will take place on Wednesday, January 20 from 5 PM until 8 PM at the intersection of Texas and University Avenues in College Station. This location is quite proximate to Texas A& M University.

It takes guts to have an anti-war protest in proximity to Texas A & M University. Those folks over there are often very conservative.

This rally is being staged by the Brazos Coalition Against War.

Here is what the Brazos Coalition says about the protest—

“The Brazos Coalition Against War is sponsoring a protest against the Obama Administration’s escalation of the War in Afghanistan and the continued War in Iraq. The Brazos Coalition Against War is sponsoring a major protest on January 20, 2010, which marks a year since Barack Obama’s inauguration as a President who campaigned on ending the foreign policy of President George W. Bush. However, the Obama Administration has continued the foreign policy of the Bush Administration, continuing the occupation of Iraq and escalating the war in Afghanistan. The purpose of the protest is and to demand that our leaders end the United States occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq, and that all military service members and civilian contractors are brought home. The protest will be held from 5:00pm to 7:00pm at the corner of University Drive and Texas Avenue in College Station, Texas. Members of both community chapter of Brazos Coalition Against War and the Texas A&M student chapter will be in. The Brazos Coalition Against War, active for over three years in the Bryan-College Station area, includes individuals, students, and community groups opposed to the War in Iraq. The Brazos Coalition Against War website can be found on Facebook.”

Taking a lead role in this demonstration is fellow blogger and good friend Teddy Wilson.

Memorial Day originated in 1868, when Union General John A. Logan designated a day in which the graves of Civil War soldiers would be decorated. Known as Decoration Day, the holiday was changed to Memorial Day within twenty years, becoming a holiday dedicated to the memory of all war dead. It became a federal holiday in 1971, and is now observed on the last Monday in May.

(This representation of a disagreement between Tecumseh and William Henry Harrison is a reminder that sometimes U.S. troops were called upon to do harm to the native population. Tecumseh died in the War of 1812.)

War crimes take place in all wars and are committed by all sides. It is not a contradiction to acknowledge this fact and still respect the great majority who served honorably. At the same time, it is disrespectful to the concepts of democracy and human rights to ignore these facts.

I called my father from the Korean War Memorial and asked him about the historical accuracy of how the troops were sculpted. He said based on my descriptions, it was an accurate portrayal. ( Photo below)

Without people willing to die to protect the freedom of others, I would not be able to express my views in this blog post. Without such people, none of us would be able to enjoy the day-to-day freedoms we often take for granted.